Twenty years ago no one would have imagined today’s Venezuela. Busses that don’t run, cars that don’t work because of unavailable spare parts, children hungry and people dying because medicines are lacking and doctors are leaving the country. On top of all that, power outages. The RTM Venezuela office was affected by this. After the building transformer broke, RTM (TWR in Spanish) Venezuela was left without power and the other renters deserted the building. Surreal as it was, each staff person had to daily climb the stairs to the ninth floor while carrying water and gasoline, so the generator could, thankfully, operate.

This was ten months ago. Knowing the importance of the radio production, TWR offered the team a well-resourced studio to work in. The only problem was that it was not in Venezuela. The team did not want to leave their country. Their director, Gabriel Fernandez, answered, “We need to be here for the people of Venezuela. If we leave, then what does that say to those who must stay behind? Instead, we prayed that the power can be restored”

Joining them, the TWR staff around the world prayed fervently for the power to be restored.

After six months of prayer, their breakthrough came! A utility company arrived with a flatbed truck and a crane, disconnected the transformer and hoisted it out of the ground onto the truck. The workers informed the RTM director that it would be refurbished at a repair facility. Yet they had no information as to the how long it would take or when power would be restored. Through an employee that Gabriel knows, he was able to receive photos while the transformer was being repaired.

Meanwhile, the work at the RTM office and studios carried on and the Peter the Octopus rallies took place around the country, encouraging children with a fun and positive message to give them hope in Jesus, while living in a world of uncertainty and in many cases, despair.

Suddenly, last week, the flatbed truck arrived at the office complex and lowered the fully refurbished transformer back into its position under the sidewalk. The first attempt to connect it to the power grid failed. Was the repair faulty? Would the transformer even work? An expert was needed to connect it. But when would he come? Againn, we joined the Venezuela team in prayer asking the Lord for a qualified person to get the job done so that power could be restored.

We all waited for news, but the weekend arrived and no one had shown up. Finally, on December 12, two days before the team’s yearly Christmas lunch, the expert appeared on the scene. Soon after, we received a photo from RTM Venezuela; shining in the light after nearly a year of working in the dark.

Of course, the transformer didn’t materialize out of thin air and the installation expert didn’t have angel’s wings. But the fact that a major electrical component was removed, repaired and reinstalled during these times in Venezuela, is indeed a miracle. God moved the heart of the utility company staff to expedite the transformer repair and restoration of power to a building with one tenant remaining - RTM Venezuela.

To God be the glory and may the kingdom work continue forward in Venezuela so many can hear a message of hope across Latin America and the Caribbean.